Why Pfizer is betting on Valneva
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will invest € 90.5 million in French vaccine company Valneva to advance the Lyme disease vaccine partnership. All the details
Pfizer will invest 90.5 million euros in the French vaccine company Valneva to purchase an 8.1% stake. The two pharmaceutical companies have announced that they will continue the partnership against Lyme disease, which will be reserved for a capital increase.
THE DETAILS OF THE AGREEMENT
In a press release , Pfizer announced that it will acquire 8.1% of Valneva at a price of € 9.49 per share, for a total investment of € 90.5 million, through a reserved capital increase to further support the strategic partnership between the two companies on the experimental Lyme disease vaccine.
Closing is scheduled for June 22, 2022.
THE REACTION OF THE BAG
Yesterday morning, the shares of Valneva, writes Investing , reacted with a sharp rise, reaching 14.5% at 9.09 euros in early trading.
LYME'S DISEASE
Lyme disease or borreliosis, we read on the website of the Higher Institute of Health (Iss), owes its name to the American town of the same name in which the first case was described in 1975. It is an infection transmitted by ticks and caused by the spirochete Borrelia spp.
The bacterial infection mainly affects the skin, joints, nervous system and internal organs. It can manifest itself with severe, persistent symptoms and, if left untreated, takes on a chronic course.
Since laboratory tests are not always able to definitively confirm or rule out the disease, the ISS explains, the decision to initiate antibiotic treatment should be made on the basis of clinical diagnosis and anamnestic and epidemiological data.
VACCINES AND TREATMENTS
Genetically engineered Lyme disease vaccines are available in the United States, but it is recommended that they be given only to people aged 15 to 70 who reside, work, or spend most of the day in an area for recreation. infested with infected ticks.
In Italy and in Europe, however, these vaccines are not currently usable, because in the USA only the pathogen B.burgdorferi sensu strictu is present, while in Europe there are all the genospecies of Borrelie, which are distinct from each other from the point of unsanitary view.
"Lyme disease continues to weigh heavily on countries in North America and Europe, with an estimated 600,000 cases per year in both regions," said Kathrin U. Jansen, Pfizer's vice president and head of vaccine research and development.
THE VACCINE AGAINST LYME'S DISEASE
Valneva, who is also working on a Covid-19 vaccine , will use the proceeds from Pfizer's equity investment to support the development of the Phase 3 program to tackle Lyme disease through the experimental VLA15 vaccine.
As announced last April, Pfizer plans to launch the Phase 3 study of VLA15 in the third quarter of 2022.
“Pfizer's investment in Valneva highlights the quality of the work we have done together over the past two years and is a strong recognition of Valneva's expertise in vaccines,” commented Thomas Lingelbach, CEO of Valneva.
“Lyme disease – continued the CEO – is spreading and represents a high unmet medical need that has an impact on the lives of millions of people in the Northern Hemisphere. We look forward to further study of our VLA15 candidate in Phase 3, which will potentially bring us one step closer to helping protect adults and children from this devastating disease. ”
THE TERMS OF THE VACCINE AGREEMENT
The two companies, says Teleborsa , have entered into an Equity Subscription Agreement and updated the terms of their collaboration and license agreement for the vaccine candidate.
Valneva, the note reads, will now finance 40% of the remaining shared development costs compared to 30% of the initial agreement. Pfizer will pay Valneva tiered royalties ranging from 14 to 22%, compared to royalties starting at 19% in the initial agreement.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/perche-pfizer-scommette-su-valneva/ on Tue, 21 Jun 2022 10:47:15 +0000.